


Standards of Beauty

by beargirl1393



Series: Dworin Week 2k16 [4]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Gen, Genderbending, fem!Dwalin - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-21
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-07-25 20:44:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7546827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beargirl1393/pseuds/beargirl1393
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dwalin's experiences with other races are similar to those of other dwarrowdams, and being Queen didn't change that. Having Thorin by her side helped her with the idiots, however.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Standards of Beauty

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 4 of Dworin Week, which is 'Encounters With Other Races'. I love the idea of fem!Dwalin, especially after reading a lot of Aida's fem!Dwalin fics (if you like Dwaggins, you should check them out, they're great!), so I thought this was the perfect day to add that in.

There was an unofficial rule among dwarves, shared with very few not of their race, that all dwarrowdams abided by.

Whenever they were traveling, whether with family or (especially) if they were on their own, they would ensure that they would be viewed as male by any outsiders. It was usually very easy, as any not of their race and not familiar with it would assume that beards meant an individual was male. Men, in particular, were easy to fool as they believed that an individual wearing trousers was male until told otherwise, and their beards simply added to that misconception.

Dwarrowdams accepted the necessity, especially when traveling alone as there were dangers that females of any race were more likely to fall victim to than males were. None of them wished to be taken advantage of, so they would disguise themselves. Also, they had noticed that males in the towns of Men seemed to be more highly regarded. Females were rather disrespected, and so the dwarrowdams would ensure they got their just treatment by leaving their disguises on until they returned to dwarven settlements.

Dwalin had known the reasons when she was just a little dwarfling, and any time she visited Dale with her mother or father, she introduced herself as a son of Fundin. After Erebor fell and her parents passed, she still continued to do so when she needed to leave Ered Luin, because it was safer and it was tradition. She noticed, however, that she rarely had to introduce herself as male because most men, elves, and hobbits (the few that she’d encountered) would address her as ‘Master Dwarf’ from the outset.

She knew that, by their standards, that she did resemble a male. She was hairier than typical for Dwarrowdams and her beard was a source of pride. Her head was shaved and covered in tattoos honoring her fallen family, and her breasts were easily concealed beneath her armor. She had never really been fond of dresses, tending to favor tunics and trousers so that she would more easily be able to spar. She _did_ know how to fight in a gown, as her parents had once said that no knowledge was ever wasted and every advantage would help in a fight.

When she wore a gown to Thorin’s coronation after Erebor was reclaimed and was still able to stop one of the bitter old nobles who didn’t like Thorin’s new policies, that was more than proven. The noble was arrested and sentenced to death for an attempted assassination of their king, and the rest of the day continued apace. Dwalin was named queen (something she was still coming to terms with), and there was feasting and dancing and music enough to even make Thorin smile.

Although watching Fíli trip over himself trying to work up the nerve to talk to Bombur’s eldest was likely the source of some of that amusement, not that Dwalin could blame him as she’d laughed good-naturedly at the poor lad’s fumbling too.

* * *

 

The trouble came when, after the coronation, she was expected to sit in on diplomatic meetings between Thorin and the kings of Mirkwood and Dale.

Thranduil, ponce that he was, still was polite and didn’t say one word about her outfit (as there was no way they were stuffing her into a gown twice in the same month, she was in her typical guard uniform), and referred to her by her title or called her by her name. It wasn’t very surprising, Thranduil was old enough to have seen many dwarves before and thus knew how to discern whether they were male or female despite disguises, and now that peace had been reached, he would not risk it for something so petty.

The man, however, was a problem. Bard knew her from the company, but he also assumed she was male due to how she had been dressed and they never corrected him. On the quest, there was no reason to, and afterwards she had been too busy to attend any of the meetings between the kings as she was busy whipping her recruits into shape as was her duty as Captain of the Guards.

And so, when Bard walked in, she was greeted as ‘Master Dwalin’ and Thorin was asked where his wife was, as Bard was interested in meeting her. Explanations were given, the man heartily embarrassed and apologizing profusely, but Dwalin waved it off. It had happened before, after all, and it would likely happen again. That didn’t stop the brief flare of hurt at the man’s misunderstanding and obvious confusion, but she was good at ignoring such things when necessary.

Thorin’s arms around her after the man left helped. Sparring with him and working off her frustrations helped even more, as Thorin well knew. And if he spent longer than usual worshiping her body that night, ensuring that she knew that he loved every inch of her…well, that was their business and no one else needed to know.

There would always be outsiders who didn’t understand dwarven standards of beauty. There would always be those who mistook her for a male, whether she was deliberately dressed as such for travel or not. There would always be insulting comments from officials who, unlike Bard, had rigid perceptions of what females looked like and thought it was their duty to tell her when she didn’t meet their expectations.

But there would also always be Thorin at her side. Letting her defend herself or defending her, depending on the case. Reassuring her after the officials had left, or just letting her spar with him until they were both exhausted and her frustrations had been worked out. Worshipping her body at night to prove that he loved her as she was and didn’t want her to change.

There would always be those who didn’t understand her, outsiders had a rather impressive track record of misunderstanding dwarves, after all, but as she aged, it mattered less. Regardless of how many idiots insulted her, she always had Thorin by her side.

And, if she happened to punch one particularly insulting man…well, that was her business.


End file.
